


The Stories of Charlie Lawrence

by phantomthief_fee



Series: BATIM Drabbles [28]
Category: Bendy and the Ink Machine
Genre: Alternate Universe, Nonbinary Character, Originally Posted on Tumblr
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-10
Updated: 2020-05-06
Packaged: 2021-03-01 17:42:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 11,344
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23571022
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/phantomthief_fee/pseuds/phantomthief_fee
Summary: Stories regarding the adoptive child of Susie Campbell and Sammy Lawrence.
Relationships: Susie Campbell/Sammy Lawrence
Series: BATIM Drabbles [28]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/910824
Comments: 12
Kudos: 18





	1. Sammy Adopts A Kid

**Anonymous asked: In hell's studio I can see a homeless kid somehow sneak in the studio and make themselves at home in Wally's janitor closet and end up getting(somehow) adopted by Sammy as the kid needs a safe place and Sammy being extremely nervous that he might do something wrong(knowing him), but it would probably end on a good note with the two(though I do see that the kid might have some physical and mental issues from being on the street for some time)**

Oh boy. I am going to make this as fluffy and comforting as I possibly can.

Sorry this took so long. ^^”

* * *

Sammy Lawrence was not a heartless man. He may have been grumpy most of the time and had a reputation as the studio curmudgeon, but he was far from heartless. The younger members of the studio all knew this quite well, although they kept it to themselves. Many had been shown kindness by him at one point or another. More often than not it couldn’t be traced back to him, but they always knew who it had been that had helped them.

The truth was that Sammy had a soft spot for children. He always had. There was a secret part of him that hoped that one day he would be able to be a father, although it was something he shared with very few people. Susie knew, of course, but knew better than to bring it up in a work environment. But she brought it up sometimes when they were alone. She saw how happy he was when he babysat for his siblings or her family.

Sammy got quiet whenever she asked. As much as he wanted to be a father, he was absolutely terrified that he’d somehow mess up. He knew he could have a temper and he didn’t want to be the kind of father his children would be scared of. He just didn’t think he was ready yet.

But the universe evidently thought he was. Because one day, when he opened up Wally’s closet to get a broom, he found a kid sleeping on the floor of the closet.

Sammy froze, staring down at the child. They were small and absolutely filthy, so covered in dirt and grime that it was difficult to tell how old they were or what they even really looked like. Their hair was long and matted, similarly covered with dirt, and their clothes were essentially rags. They were shivering a bit, a spare blanket pulled tightly around their thin form. It was abundantly clear that this child had been living on the street for some time.

Sammy felt his heart beginning to melt. It had been especially cold the other night. The kid must come in to get out of the cold. There was no way their clothing would provide any protection from the cold. Sammy didn’t give much thought to how they’d gotten in. Wally had probably left the back door unlocked again.

“Poor kid,” Sammy murmured. He set the broom aside, kneeling beside the child.

“Hey, kiddo?” He gently shook the kid. The child’s eyes fluttered open. Upon seeing Sammy kneeling beside them, they screamed and scrambled back, ending up banging their head on one of the lower shelves.

“Hey, hey! I’m not going to hurt you!” Sammy put his hands up, keeping his voice low. The child whimpered, pulling the blanket tighter around themselves.

“I’m not going to hurt you,” Sammy repeated, keeping his hands up. “My name is Sammy Lawrence. I’m the music director here. What’s your name?”

“Charlie,” the child mumbled.

“It’s nice to meet you, Charlie.” Sammy smiled gently at them. “Do you want something to eat?”

Charlie lowered their shoulders a bit, their expression suspicious but hopeful.

“Is Mr. Wally here?” They asked.

Ah, that explained a few things. Wally had probably left the backdoor unlocked on purpose for this kid. Everyone in the studio knew Wally would often help out the homeless people around the studio.

Sammy was about to say that he didn’t think Wally was in yet, only to have Wally round the corner with a pile of clothes and a thermos of what was probably soup. He froze when he saw Sammy kneeling beside Charlie.

“Mr. Wally!” Charlie lit up, trying to get to their feet. Unfortunately, as soon as they attempted to stand their legs gave out from under them and they went tumbling back down. Sammy caught them, noting with some sadness how skinny they were.

“Easy there, kid.” Sammy gently put them back on the floor.

“I’m fine,” Charlie mumbled, although their face was looking a bit red.

Sammy looked back at Wally. “Those employee showers Joey had put in are still working, right?”

“I, uh, yeah?” It took Wally a second to response, seemingly stunned by the fact that Sammy hadn’t yelled at him.

“Good.” Sammy looked back at Charlie. “Why don’t we get you cleaned up and then you can have the soup Franks brought.” Charlie’s gaze flicked to Wally, who gave them a nod and an encouraging smile.

“Okay.” They nodded slowly.

“Can you do it yourself or-?” Sammy began to ask. Charlie scrambled to their feet, bright red now.

“I can do it!” They stammered indignantly. “I’m not a baby!”

“Alright.” Sammy stood up as well. “Franks can show you where the showers are. I’ll guard the soup.” He smiled gently at them, taking the thermos of soup from Wally.

“Right, uh, follow me.” Wally gestured and Charlie followed. 

Once they were gone, Sammy went into his office to guard the soup and start to get some work done. After about ten to twenty minutes, Wally entered the office. He looked a bit nervous and wasn’t holding the clothes he’d brought.

“So, uh, you aren’t gonna yell at me about letting the kid in?” He asked.

“Of course not,” Sammy said. “They probably would have died if you hadn’t let them in. It was freezing last night.” He knew his reputation, but he couldn’t help but be hurt by the fact that Wally thought he’d be angry about this. It wouldn’t do to dwell on that, though.

“In any case,” he continued. “Do you know anyone around here who can cut hair? I doubt we’ll be able to brush out those knots. And we’ll need to find someplace for them to stay long term. Do you know if their parents are around? I don’t want to just turn them out onto the street again, not with the weather being what it is.”

There was no answer. Sammy frowned and looked over at him.

“Franks?”

Wally was just staring at him, his mouth hanging open a bit. Then his face split in what Sammy could only describe as a shit-eating grin.

“Y’know, I didn’t take you for the fatherly type,” he said.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Sammy sputtered, feeling his face beginning to get warm. He’d gotten so caught up in being worried about the kid that he’d forgotten that Wally didn’t know about his secret paternal instincts.

“You’ve known the kid for less than an hour and you’ve already basically adopted them,” Wally said, his smile getting even wider.

“L-Like I said, I can’t in good conscience turn a child back onto the street in this weather.” Sammy cleared his throat, trying to hide how red his face was getting. Thankfully, he was saved by Susie slamming the door open.

“I heard you found a kid in Wally’s closet!” She yelled. “Tell me everything!” Wally shrieked and stumbled away. Sammy quietly breathed a sigh of relief and explained the situation to Susie.

As he was explaining one of the interns appeared, pushing Charlie in a wheelchair. Charlie was now dressed in the clothes Wally had provided, which looked to be old clothes of his and were far too big on them. A faded sweater, a pair of old slacks, fuzzy wool socks, and a rumpled white button-up shirt.

“They said they wanted to come here?” The intern said, looking around at Susie, Sammy, and Wally.

“What happened? Why are they in a wheelchair?” Susie immediately looked concerned, as did Sammy although he wasn’t saying anything. He just walked brusquely over and knelt in front of Charlie.

“Are you alright?” His voice was soft.

“Yeah…I’m okay.” Charlie hunched their shoulders. “I just…Can’t stand too long. My legs got tired and I fell over.”

“I found them and helped them get dressed,” the intern explained. They didn’t need to explain where they’d gotten the wheelchair. Joey had started putting them in to make things easier for the workers who had mobility issues and those who had injuries.

“Sounds like I should’ve stayed and helped you get clean,” Wally joked. This, evidently, was the wrong thing to say.

“I’m not a baby!” Charlie snapped, their face getting even redder. “I don’t need help doing easy stuff like that!”

“Oh, sorry.” Wally backed up a bit, looking sheepish.

“There’s no shame in needing help,” Sammy said gently.

Everyone aside from Charlie was surprised by the tenderness in Sammy’s voice. None of them had ever heard him speak so softly or sweetly before.

“Everyone needs help sometimes and there’s no shame in asking for it,“ Sammy continued. “No one is saying you’re weak.”

Charlie said nothing, but their eyes were wide and shining.

“Now.” Sammy stood up, dusting himself off. “We’ll need to do something about your hair. I suspect we’ll need to cut it to get rid of all the matting. After that, we’ll figure out where you can live.”

“Where I can…live?” Charlie said slowly, almost too quietly to be heard.

“Oh! Oh! I can cut their hair!” Susie clapped her hands together excitedly. “I’ve been learning how to cut hair!” Sammy gave her a rather incredulous look.

“Well…You can cut the matted parts away,” he conceded. “But we’ll need to take them to a proper hairdresser later.”

“It won’t be _that_ bad.” Susie folded her arms indignantly.

“I mean…No offense, Susie, but the last time you tried cutting my hair I couldn’t take my hat off for two months,” Wally said. Susie let out a small humph, sticking her tongue out at Sammy and Wally. By this point, the intern had fled, sufficiently weirded out by the situation.

“What did you mean when you said, where I can live?” Charlie asked, tugging on Sammy’s shirtsleeve.

“I’m not about to turn you out onto the street.” Sammy smiled at them. “So, we’ll figure out somewhere for you to live where you can be safe and happy.”

“Maybe we could adopt them,” Susie suggested, grabbing Sammy by the arm. “You’re already acting like a father toward them.”

“W-Well, I, er, um…” Sammy began to stammer and sputter, his face going red. He wasn’t ready. He couldn’t be ready. What if he messed up? What if he traumatized this child?

“Sammy? A dad?” Wally almost couldn’t believe what Susie was suggesting. There was no way Sammy would do well as a father. But…he **was** acting surprisingly kind and patient toward Charlie.

“You guys would _want_ to adopt me?” Charlie’s voice was quiet and uncertain, as though they were afraid the offer would immediately be rescinded.

“Of course!” Susie pulled away from Sammy, taking Charlie’s hands in hers. “Sammy won’t admit it, but he’s always wanted to be a father. It would be lovely to welcome you into our home!”

Charlie looked at Sammy, as though to confirm Susie’s words. Sammy sighed. It looked as though the jig was up.

“I can’t promise I’ll be the perfect father,” he said, coming to stand at Susie’s side. “But I _would_ like to try.” He knelt down, placing his hand on Susie’s and Charlie’s. “I would be honored to be your father.”

Charlie’s lip began to quiver and they sniffled loudly. Soon enough, they were bawling as Susie and Sammy hugged them. Wally edged out of the office. He figured he needed to tell Joey about this. And also probably find some way to get some adoption paperwork.


	2. Charlie And Daddy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Some father-child bonding between Sammy and Charlie

**Anonymous asked: can we see some more fluff of hell's studio Sammy and Charlie, they are just so cute!**

Of course! I’m all for some cute family stuff!

Here’s Charlie’s [introduction](https://queenofcats17.tumblr.com/post/189990417000/in-hells-studio-i-can-see-a-homeless-kid-somehow)

* * *

“Like this?”

“Yes, like that.”

Charlie dragged their fingers across the banjo strings, strumming out a chord. They looked eagerly up at Sammy with a big grin. Sammy was unable to keep himself from smiling back.

“You’re doing very well,” he said, patting Charlie’s shoulder.

“Really?” Charlie’s face lit up further at the praise.

“Really.”

It had been about a couple months since Charlie had turned up and Susie and Sammy had begun the process to adopt them. They were working on getting Charlie enrolled in school, which didn’t thrill Charlie in the slightest, but while they worked on that Charlie came to the studio with them. They spent a lot of time in Sammy’s office watching him compose or listening to Susie sing in the recording booth or the band play. They loved the studio and the studio members loved them. Meeting the toons had been an incredible experience for them.

But out of everyone in the studio, Charlie adored Sammy the most. Most children who encountered Sammy liked him. Sammy’s approach to talking to children was to talk to them as one would talk to an adult. He was gentler with children than he was with adults, but he still spoke to children under the assumption that they were intelligent beings. But he was far more forgiving to children because they were still learning.

In any case, Sammy’s treatment of Charlie made them love him. They wanted to spend all the time they could with him. They were a child, after all. So, they asked him to teach them how to play an instrument. Sammy had been delighted by this, even if he hadn’t been able to completely show it. He’d suggested the banjo as it was his favorite. Charlie probably would have agreed to just about any instrument Sammy had suggested, they just wanted to learn from Sammy.

And so, they were now learning how to play the banjo from Sammy. They’d been a bit discouraged at first by how bad they sounded, but Sammy had been quick to reassure them.

“You can’t expect yourself to be perfect on the first try,” he said. “You’re still learning. All I can ask is that you do your best.”

They were in the middle of one of their lessons at that moment. Sammy had needed to take a break from composing, stuck on one bar, and had been glad for the distraction.

“So, um, which chord is that again?” Charlie asked, peering at their fingers.

“That’s the E minor chord,” Sammy replied. “And if you add this finger.” He gently pushed one of Charlie’s fingers down. “That’s the E major chord.”

“Okay.” Charlie’s face was comically serious as they tried to commit the chord to memory.

Sammy couldn’t help but smile again. He felt a surge of tenderness and pride whenever he looked at them. So this was what it was like to be a father. He wondered if Henry felt like this when looked at the toons or his daughter.

“You two havin’ fun?” Bendy asked, opening the door.

“Yeah!” Charlie nodded fervently, clutching the banjo to their chest. “Dad says I’m doing really well!”

Sammy let out an involuntary gasp. Bendy’s eyes widened as well.

“What? What did I say?” Charlie instinctively curled into themselves, ready to be yelled at.

“You didn’t say anything wrong,” Sammy said quickly. “It’s just…”

“That’s the first time you’ve called him ‘dad’, isn’t it?” Bendy leaned on the door frame.

“Oh…” Charlie let their shoulders lower, frowning slightly. Sammy’s lip began to quiver, tears welling up in his eyes.

“I’m honored that you consider me a father,” he whispered. Gently, he removed the banjo from Charlie’s lap and enfolded them in a hug.

Bendy decided it was best to give them some alone time, closing the door and departing. Susie would probably want to hear about this too.


	3. Charlie Gets A Cat

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Susie and Sammy decide Charlie can get a cat and they know exactly which one they want

**Anonymous asked: i do see hell's studio sammy and susie giving charlie their first pet (maybe a kitten?) and charlie is surprised and happy about getting a kitten**

Heck yeah! >:D

Warning, this does have some mentions of animal death.

* * *

“Charlie, do you want to get a pet?”

Charlie immediately looked up from the book they’d been reading, their eyes wide and sparkling. Susie stifled a giggle.

“I’ll take that as a yes,” she said.

“You’re really gonna let me get a pet?” Charlie asked, putting down their book and scooting closer. They were sitting on the couch, their cane propped up next to them. Physical therapy had made it so that they didn’t need a wheelchair anymore, but the muscles in their legs still weren’t strong enough for them to stand for too long without assistance.

“Of course,” Susie replied. “If I’m being honest, I think Sammy could use an animal around the house too.”

Sammy’s last cat had died a little over a year ago and he hadn’t gotten another one since. Susie could understand why Sammy was unwilling to adopt another cat, as he’d had his previous cat, Carmen, for a good portion of his life. He’d raised her from a stray kitten he’d found in a bush. It was understandable that he’d need some time to recover after losing such a treasured friend.

Charlie nodded, their face screwed up in concentration as they chewed on their lip. They bounced their leg rapidly, as they often did when they were nervous.

“Something wrong, sweetie?” Susie asked, putting a hand on Charlie’s.

“I…Would it be okay if we didn’t buy one?” They asked.

“What do you mean?”

“Well, um…” Charlie started to fiddle with the hem of their sweater. “There was this cat that I used to feed. Back when I…You know.” They paused, hunching their shoulders at the memory. “Anyway, um, she was really sweet and if you’re gonna let me get a pet I want it to be her.”

Susie watched him for a moment or two, a soft smile spreading across her face.

“Of course,” she said, squeezing Charlie’s hand. “We’ll do our best to help you find her.” She was sure Sammy would be sympathetic to their child’s plight.

.

Sammy was indeed sympathetic. After he got home from the errand he’d been on and Susie had relayed to him Charlie’s response to her question, he’d immediately agreed to help find this mystery cat.

“Where was the last place you saw her?” Sammy asked, sitting down with a notepad in his hands. “Does she have any identifying markings? What did you call her?”

“Um…” Charlie screwed up their face in thought again. “I called her Shadow. She’s missing the top of her right ear and most of her tail. I gave her a pink bandana because pink’s my favorite color. I can show you the last place I saw her.”

“Alright.” Sammy noted these details down.

“It’s a bit late to go looking for her right now, but we can look for her tomorrow,” Susie said, gently tugging at Sammy and Charlie’s hands. “For now, it’s time for dinner.”

“What’re we having?” Charlie asked eagerly. It always warmed Susie’s heart seeing how excited Charlie got about her cooking.

“Lasagna,” Susie answered in a sing-song voice.

“Awesome!” Charlie squealed. Sammy couldn’t help but smile as well. He loved his child so much.

.

As promised, the three of them went looking for Shadow. The last place Charlie had seen her was in the alleyway they’d been sleeping in prior to ending up at the studio. They’d seen her other times in other alleyways, but that had been the most recent meeting they’d had.

“I hope she’s okay,” Charlie said as they drove over. “It’s been so cold.”

“I hope she’s doing well too,” Sammy agreed. His grip on the steering wheel tightened ever so slightly, although only Susie noticed.

It didn’t take too long to arrive at the alley, which did little to calm the anxieties of both Sammy and Charlie. Once the car was parked, none of them moved. It was as though they were afraid of what they would find when they got out. They both feared what they would see in that alleyway.

It was Susie who left the car first. She stepped out of the vehicle and started toward the alley. Snow crunched under her boots. Her breath formed a fog in front of her.

“Shadow?” She called out, then made a little clicking sound to entice the cat. There was a faint mewing from the back of the alley. Susie quickened her pace toward a box she could make out at the end of the passage. It was made of cardboard from what she could see and covered with a blanket. She could hear Sammy and Charlie’s voice behind her, but she didn’t stop. She knelt in front of the box, not caring that the cold of the snow pierced through her thin stockings. She lifted the blanket and gasped.

“What? What is it?” Sammy demanded, running up behind her.

“Look,” Susie whispered as she moved aside.

There, laying on a little makeshift nest of blankets and pillows, was a black cat. It was missing the tip of its right and the majority of its tail and had a dirty pink bandana around its neck. And it was curled protectively around two teensy little kittens.

“Oh.” Sammy’s eyes widened. “Oh.”

“Is she okay? Is she there?” Charlie was still a ways away. They couldn’t move very quickly.

“She’s fine,” Sammy called back, keeping his voice low. “And she has some friends with her.” He was smiling, unable to stop himself.

“Friends?” Charlie’s voice got high and they quickened their hobbling. Upon seeing Shadow and her kittens, Charlie squealed. They knelt as well, sticking their hands in to pet Shadow’s head.

“Look at your babies!” They cooed as Shadow purred and leaned into their touch. “Look at them! They’re so cute!!”

“Well, it looks like we have three cats now,” Susie laughed.

Sammy nodded, already beginning to plan out the vet schedule. They’d need to get Shadow spayed, of course, and make sure she and the babies were healthy. They’d have to be brought up to date on their shots. She’d need a new collar as well. One with a tag. Maybe some formula for the babies.

Charlie was crying now, whether out of relief or happiness wasn’t clear. They’d been so scared Shadow would be dead. She was rather thin, but she was okay! And she had babies!

“We should get them back to the house,” Susie suggested. “It’s pretty cold out here.” Charlie nodded, hiccuping loudly and wiping their nose on the back of their sleeve.

Sammy carried the box back to the car, putting it in the back with Charlie. Charlie spent the entire ride back leaning on the side and just staring at Shadow and her kittens. She was curled protectively around her babies but was still perfectly happy to be petted by Charlie. She clearly hadn’t forgotten them. And she was **_theirs_** now. They got to keep her and love her for the rest of her life They almost started crying all over again just from sheer happiness.

“I’m gonna make sure you get really fat,” they whispered solemnly to her. “We’ll be fat together.”

“Not _too_ fat,” Sammy said, glancing back in the review mirror. “We don’t want her to be unhealthy.”

“But all housecats should be a _little_ fat,” Susie added.

“Okay!” Charlie lit up, wiggling in their seat. They were going to spoil her so much. She’d get the kind of life she deserved. And they’d love her kittens so much too! Oh, they needed to start thinking of names for the babies. They hummed to themselves, still watching Shadow.


	4. Charlie Sees Some Shenanigans

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Charlie finally gets to witness some studio shenanigans

**Anonymous asked: Hi there! I wanted to say I really like Charlie and the Lawrences!! If it’s ok, I wanted to send a prompt in for them? I understand if you have too many prompts right now, so if you can’t do this one, I totally get it^^ Here it is: I’d imagine at some point Charlie gets involved in the magic shenanigans at the studio. What’s the first one they experience? (I.E: they visit the studio after school and it’s teeny Sammy times, or something happens to them specifically, and no one is Ok with This™)**

No worries. I’m really glad you like Charlie!

This is certainly going to be interesting. But it also got kind of sad.

* * *

It was a small miracle Charlie hadn’t experienced the bizarre shenanigans of Joey Drew Studios sooner. They’d been with Susie and Sammy for almost six months before they witnessed one of the transformations that were so common at the studio. Part of this may have been because they’d recently been enrolled in school, much to their chagrin. In any case, they’d heard about the transformations from their parents, usually through Sammy’s complaining about whatever shenanigans Joey had put them through, but they hadn’t seen one before that point. Despite this lack of concrete proof, Charlie wholeheartedly believed in the magic of the studio. After all, literal cartoons lived in the studio.

They’d been coming back from school that day. Their routine was that they dropped by the studio after school to hang out until it was time for their parents to head home. They’d been a little nervous when they’d first started school because they’d be leaving Shadow and her kittens, (They’d named the girl Soot since she was gray and the boy Pancake. They didn’t really have a reason for naming Pancake what they had since he was black and white, not any shade of brown. Still, that was what Charlie had wanted.) but a nice woman who lived next door had volunteered to watch the cats until the family got home.

“I’m here!” Charlie announced, opening the door to the studio. Almost immediately, they noticed that something seemed to be going on. The employees they could see were running around frantically, but not in the way they usually were.

Usually, when Charlie arrived the employees were running around delivering scripts and checking various animation cells with their superiors. But at the moment they were running around carrying buckets of ink and things that Charlie vaguely recognized as ritual components. Although they weren’t allowed to be around when Joey was conducting rituals, they knew what the components looked like due to asking questions.

“Oh, hey kiddo!” Wally stuck his head out from the hallway. “This, uh, might not be the best time.” For once, he didn’t have ink smeared all over his face.

“What’s…goin’ on?” Charlie asked slowly, hobbling toward him.

It was at that point that Sammy rounded the corner, grumbling to himself. However, he didn’t look the way he had when he’d left the house that morning. He was a toon. Again. A demon toon this time, judging from the horns poking out from his hair and the spade tipped tail flicking back and forth.

“That’s why…” Wally grimaced as Sammy and Charlie locked eyes. Charlie’s eyes widened and they dropped their backpack.

“Hey…” Sammy grimaced as well. He’d honestly been dreading this. Charlie knew about the transformations Sammy went through, but he wasn’t sure what his child’s reaction was going to be. This was weird even for him.

Thankfully, the reaction was far from negative.

“This…is so cool!” Charlie lit up, bouncing up and down as best they could without falling over. Sammy let out an internal sigh of relief, although due to his current toon state it wasn’t so internal.

“What happened? Was it Mr. Joey again?” Charlie asked, getting closer to play with Sammy’s tail.

“Yeah.” Sammy nodded, his tail swishing in irritation at the memory. “He was trying to improve Bendy’s design and, well….” He gestured to himself.

“The magic ink got in the pipes again,” Wally added. “Standard stuff.”

“Can I be a toon?” Charlie looked up at Sammy with sparkling eyes. “Please? I wanna try it too!”

“Absolutely not.” Sammy immediately replied.

“Aw, why?” Charlie asked, face screwed up in a quintessentially childish pout. “Mr. Drew knows how to reverse it, right? It wouldn’t hurt if I got to be a toon for a little.”

“It’s still incredibly dangerous.” Sammy insisted.

“But you get turned into a toon all the time!” Charlie whined.

“And every time I’m worried I’ll never be able to turn back!”

“But you do get turned back!”

“It’s dangerous!”

As the argument escalated, Wally stood there, unsure what to do. He really didn’t want to get in the middle of this. To be fair, Sammy had a point. Getting transformed into various things was incredibly dangerous and it was understandable Sammy wouldn’t want his kid getting involved in it. It was causing a bit of a scene, though.

Sammy was trying very hard not to yell, knowing how terrifying he could be when he yelled, but Charlie was full-on screaming. Their argument was loud enough that it attracted Susie’s attention. She came running from Joey’s office, looking rather concerned.

“What’s going on?” She asked, looking even more concerned when she saw Sammy and Charlie fighting.

“Charlie wanted to try bein’ a toon and Sammy doesn’t wanna let him,” Wally explained in a low voice.

“Oh dear.” Susie turned her attention back to Sammy and Charlie.

Charlie was crying and so had stopped yelling for the moment. Sammy’s horns lowered, like a cat lowering its ears.

“I’m sorry for yelling at you,” he said, gathering Charlie in his arms. “I just don’t want something to happen to you.”

“We worry about you, dear,” Susie agreed, joining the hug. “As fun as it might sound to be a cartoon for a little, there’s always the possibility that something will happen and you won’t be able to turn back. It’s something I worry about all the time when this happens to Sammy.”

“But I wanna try it,” Charlie said weakly. “Maybe…Maybe if I’m a toon, my legs will work better.”

“Oh, sweetheart.” Susie’s expression softened. There were tears in her eyes and even Sammy looked a bit misty-eyed. She and Sammy held Charlie tighter, Sammy’s tail wrapping around both of them. It was a frankly adorable scene.

Wally took that opportunity to leave. He didn’t want to spoil the moment. Besides, Joey probably needed help setting up the ritual.

After a few minutes, the three of them drew back from the hug.

“Do your legs really bother you that much, dear?” Susie asked.

“A little,” Charlie sniffled.

“Physical therapy is always an option,” Sammy said. They’d taken Charlie to the doctor a few weeks after adopting them and the doctor had that physical therapy might help with the muscle damage in Charlie’s legs. It wasn’t a guarantee, but it was a possibility.

“The doctor said it might not work.” Charlie hunched their shoulders.

“But it’s a possibility,” Susie said, brushing some hair out of Charlie’s eyes and fixing their little flower barrette.

“But…I don’t want to be a burden,” Charlie mumbled.

“A burden? Why would we think of you as a burden?” Sammy asked.

“I dunno.” Charlie hunched their shoulders more. “My old family thought I was a burden…”

Susie’s expression darkened and literal steam began to come out of Sammy’s ears. Neither of them had asked about how Charlie had found themselves on the street. They’d known it likely wasn’t a particularly happy story.

“We will never think of you as a burden, darling.” Susie swept them up in her arms again. “You’re our family now and family means no one gets left behind.”

“We might get angry at you sometimes, but we’re not going to abandon you.” Sammy agreed, smiling gently.

“Promise?” Charlie looked up at them, their voice so small and unsure it made Sammy want to find the people who had abandoned them and give them a piece of his mind.

“Promise.” Sammy and Susie said together.

“Okay.” Charlie still looked a bit unsure but allowed Susie and Sammy to hug them again.

“I still think you look really cool, Dad,” they said after a bit.

“I think I look ridiculous,” Sammy grumbled, his gaze flicking down to his tail. “And this thing is more trouble than it’s worth.” Controlling four limbs was bad enough. He didn’t want to have to deal with another.

“I think the idea of you as a demon is rather…interesting.” Susie gave him a mischievous smile. Immediately, Sammy blushed and began to sputter. Charlie looked blankly between the two of them for a moment or two before recognition dawned on their face and their expression turned to one of horror.

“Ew! Gross!”

Susie just giggled.


	5. Charlie Flies

**[deviltufts](https://deviltufts.tumblr.com/) asked: Hi again! If you’re still taking prompts, could you do one where Charlie is given the power of flight (sorta like the HS!Susie is suddenly strong one, but with Baby Child freedom from the clutches of gravity). Thank you!! :)**

Oh Hell yeah!!!

Sorry this took so long. ^^”

* * *

If there was one thing Sammy hadn’t expected to see when he entered Joey’s office, it was his child flying. He could have sworn he’d left Charlie in the projection booth with Norman.

“Hi, Dad!” Charlie waved excitedly from next to the ceiling fan. It wasn’t on, thankfully, so they weren’t **really** in much danger. But still. They were flying. They were on the ceiling and they were flying.

Sammy stood in the doorway for a moment or two, just trying to process what he was seeing. He had to be hallucinating. That had to be it. How else would Charlie be flying?

Then he looked at Joey, who smiled sheepishly.

“Did you do this?” Sammy asked, his voice dangerously quiet. He’d made it very clear that he didn’t want Joey messing with his kid. He didn’t want Joey experimenting on them or performing rituals or anything like that. If Joey had done something to Charlie…

“In my defense, they asked very nicely,” Joey replied, putting his hands up.

Sammy’s anger ebbed a bit at this. He was still mad that Joey had performed a spell on his child, but the knowledge that it hadn’t been Joey’s idea calmed him a bit. Sammy looked back up at Charlie, who was still flying around the ceiling and squealing with joy. He couldn’t help but feel a warmth in his chest at Charlie’s delighted expression.

“Well, I guess it’s fine,” he sighed. “Just as long as it’s not permanent.”

“It should wear off in a few hours,” Joey assured him as Charlie dipped down to wrap their arms around their father’s neck.

“Thank you so much, Dad!” They said.

“Yeah yeah.” Sammy patted their head. “Just don’t try to pull something like this again, okay? You wanna do magic shit, you run it by me and Susie first.”

“Fiiiinnneee.” Charlie groaned, but they were still smiling and hugging Sammy.

“Now come on.” Sammy turned for the door. “Let’s go show your mom.” Charlie lit up again, following Sammy delightedly out.

.

Susie was delighted by Charlie’s temporary flying abilities, at least once it was explained that Charlie had asked for it and Joey hadn’t recklessly been doing spells again.

“Now you really are my little angel!” She cooed, which made Charlie blush and try to hide their face in their sweater.

“Mom….” They whined.

Wally and some of the younger members of the studio were equally delighted by Charlie’s new ability and had quite a lot of fun trying to throw things higher than Charlie could stick them. Charlie won every time at that game, although no one really minded.

Sammy spent most of the day following Charlie to make sure they didn’t get hurt. He knew he was probably worrying for nothing, but he couldn’t help it. Magic shit made him nervous, and this was his _kid_. To his relief, Charlie made it through the day unharmed. By the end of the day, they were barely hovering above the ground.

“Can I do that again?” Charlie asked when the magic finally wore off. They were in their wheelchair because the magic had taken a lot out of them. Their whole body ached as though they’d just run a marathon, but they didn’t care. That had been one of the best experiences of their life.

“Maybe,” Susie said. “We’ll have to look through Joey’s books for a safe spell.”

“Or at least one that he knows how to reverse,” Sammy added.

“Okay!” Charlie yawned, their eyes fluttering as sleep began to take over. Soon enough, they were fast asleep.

Sammy and Susie exchanged a soft smile. It was always nice to see Charlie so happy.


	6. Chapter 6

**[deviltufts](https://deviltufts.tumblr.com/) asked: Hello again! If you aren’t totally and completely swamped with prompts, would you be interested in turning Susie in HS!AU into a cat for a bit? And maybe she’s disoriented and kinda runs off, only for Charlie on their way back from school to find her and help Susie back to the studio? (Angst and... literal fluff) >:3c (thank u and I hope you’re having a lovely day!!!!)**

Ooh! That’s very interesting

* * *

Susie didn’t remember how it had happened. There had been some kind of spell, something about a cat toon. Something had gone wrong and then…she’d become a cat. She’d panicked, she was sure of it. Her animal instincts had overwhelmed her. It was all so bright and loud and it smelled wrong and she hadn’t felt safe. So she’d fled.

When she’d come back to her senses, she wasn’t sure where she was. She was on a street she didn’t completely recognize. People were milling about around her, cars tearing by on the street. The sound of the cars set her teeth on edge, made her want to hide. How far away from the studio was she? She whimpered, ears flattened against her head. This was bad. This was very very bad.

She didn’t know how long this spell would last, or if it was permanent. She didn’t know how to get back to the studio. She couldn’t speak to humans like this. She wasn’t wearing a collar or any kind of identification that would help her to get back to the studio. She felt a bit like crying.

Her mind raced with terrible scenarios. Scenarios that ended with injury and/or death. She didn’t want to die like this, in a body that wasn’t hers.

“Hey…What’s wrong kitty?”

She looked abruptly up at the sudden voice. She felt like crying again when she saw who it was, but out of joy this time. Charlie was crouched down, or at least as crouched as they could conceivably be.

“Charlie!” Susie immediately lept into their arms. They ended up dropping her a bit as they struggled to balance both her and their cane.

“Man, you’re affectionate,” Charlie laughed once they had Susie safely secured in their free arm. “You’re so clean too. Someone’s gotta be looking for you.”

Susie just pressed herself against their chest, purring loudly and rubbing her face on everything she could reach. She was so glad they’d been the one to stumble across her.

“Don’t worry, kitty,” Charlie said as they began walking. “I’ll take you to the studio and Mom and Dad’ll help me find your people.”

They’d brought stray animals to the studio before, usually only if they were incredibly worried about the animal or were sure the animal had an owner.

Charlie continued to talk to her on the way to the studio, mostly about their own cats and their family. It warmed Susie’s heart to hear them talk about her. She always worried that Charlie didn’t like living with her and Sammy. Charlie was very good at hiding their true feelings by putting on a sunny disposition. But hearing them talk about her and Sammy when they didn’t know she was listening, it confirmed to her that they did indeed love her.

“Mom and Dad won’t let me adopt any other animals, which, like, I get it,” Charlie sighed. “I get that we can’t support a whole army of cats and we don’t have the time to walk dogs but…” They paused and made a frustrated noise. “I still **want** to have an army of animals. I’m allowed to fantasize.”

Susie couldn’t help but giggle a bit at this. Sammy was much the same. If he could, he too would try to adopt every cat he found.

“Anyway, we’re here!” Charlie gestured to the studio. Susie let out a small surprised noise. She hadn’t even noticed they’d been getting close.

“Hang on a sec.” Charlie shifted Susie and their cane so they could manage to open the door.

Once the door was open, the two of them were treated to a scene of absolute chaos. There were employees everywhere, looking under desks, listening to walls, trying to look between the floorboards.

“Whoa.” Charlie’s eyes widened. “That’s…new.” Closing the door behind them, they took a step inside.

“Hey, what’s going on?” They asked.

“Miss Campbell got out,” a frantic intern explained. “Mr. Drew accidentally turned her into a cat and then she ran away.”

Charlie blinked. They looked down at the cat in their arms, the cat whose fur looked remarkably similar to their mother’s hair, and back up at the intern.

“Did she look like this?” They asked, lifting the cat a bit.

“I…I don’t know?” The intern bit their lip. “Maybe you should take it to Mr. Lawrence and Mr. Drew.”

Charlie shrugged and hobbled off to Joey’s office. When they got there, both Sammy and Joey were still freaking out. Sammy was pacing and yelling while Joey frantically flipped through his books for a location spell.

“Hey! Dad!” Charlie yelled. “I think I found Mom!”

Sammy stopped pacing at this, whirling around to face Charlie. Charlie grinned, holding Susie up. Susie wriggled out of their arms to run over to Sammy, climbing up his pants using her claws so she could curl up in his arms.

“I found her on my way here,” Charlie said as Sammy began to cry.

“What luck!” Joey laughed. “We were all afraid we’d lost her for good! Well done, Charlie!”

Charlie couldn’t help but blush a little. They still got a bit flustered when they were praised.

Soon enough, Susie was returned to human form and the family was allowed to leave early. Charlie had become even more mortified upon realizing the cat they’d been talking to was, in fact, their mother. And she remembered all of it. She wasn’t about to bring it up, though. Not right now. Right now, she needed to rest.


	7. Soak

**Anonymous asked: 38. soak**

Gonna start including that shapeshifter thing.

* * *

“No! I don’t wanna!”

“Charlie, come on. You need to take a bath.”

“No!”

Sammy sighed heavily. He and Susie had been trying for almost an hour to get Charlie to take a bath. They’d been playing in the park and were completely covered in dirt and mud.

“Charlie, sweetheart, you’re all dirty,” Susie said. “We need to get you clean.”

“I can just lick myself clean!” Charlie protested. 

“Wha-?!” Sammy’s eye twitched. “No! No, you cannot do that!” 

“Yes, I can!” Charlie said. “I’ve done it before! Look!” They suddenly disappeared, their clothes falling into a pile on the ground. A little brown kitten, equally dusty and covered in dirt, wriggled out of the clothes pile. It sat down and lifted its leg, leaning down to begin licking. 

“Nonononono.” Susie scooped them up. “No, sweetheart, you are not going to lick yourself clean.”

Charlie made an upset noise of protest as they were carried toward the bathroom.

“I’ll get the disinfectant and the bandages,” Sammy said.

Thirty minutes later a very upset, but clean, Charlie kitten sat on the couch wrapped in a towel. Susie and Sammy were both completely soaked and had scratches all up their arms from bathing their kitten child. 

“Well, at least we got them clean,” Susie said with a shaky smile. Shadow watched them from the other side of the couch. It almost looked like she was smirking. 

“Don’t give me that look.” Sammy glared at her. Shadow turned away, beginning to clean herself. 


	8. Nap

**Anonymous asked: 22. Nap**

Gonna do more Charlie!

* * *

Charlie slept like they had no bones. 

Susie liked to joke that that was how she knew Charlie was their child. Because Sammy slept in exactly the same way. It was really rather hilarious to see Sammy sleep because he slept in such an open and vulnerable way, with limbs thrown everywhere and mouth wide open. It was completely different than the way he acted when he was awake. Charlie slept bonelessly due to their cat nature, both in human and cat form. 

Once or twice, Susie had walked in on Sammy and Charlie taking a nap together. Sometimes Charlie was in kitten form, curled up on Sammy’s chest in a little brown circle. Sometimes they were spread bonelessly over their father with a hand slung over his face. 

She’d taken pictures, of course. 

She’d also found Charlie sleeping curled up with Shadow, Soot, and Pancake while in kitten form. It was incredibly adorable to see the little brown ball mixed in among the black and grey fur. Shadow often groomed Charlie while they slept, treating them like one of her kittens. 

Susie had taken pictures of that as well. 

She often showed the pictures to Alice and Boris, both of whom gushed over how cute Charlie was and how funny it looked when they slept on top of Sammy like that while in human form.


	9. Charlie Meets Teeny Sammy

**Anonymous asked: If you're still doing writing prompts, I was wondering how Charlie Lawrence would react to Teeny Sammy? I imagine he would probably think he was a toy or something at first.**

That would certainly be interesting.

* * *

Charlie had gotten pretty used to showing up at the studio to find their father transformed in some form or another. Plus, they were a shapeshifter, so weird was pretty normal for their life.

Still, they were rather surprised when they arrived at the studio after school to find Sammy had shrunk to six inches tall. They’d found him in his office, attempting to work on a composition. Their cat instincts had seen the small moving creature and immediately wanted to pounce, but they didn’t listen to those instincts.

“Dad?” They asked, hobbling inside.

Sammy started a bit at their voice, dropping his pen. Charlie stifled a laugh, leaning against the doorframe to steady themselves.

“What happened?” They asked through giggles.

“There was an accident with the ink,” Sammy explained, picking up his pen once more. “Joey’s working to fix it, but…” He let out a quiet groan. “I’m stuck like this for a bit.”

“Do you think the cats’ll try to eat you?” Charlie asked, sitting down in Sammy’s chair.

“God I hope not.” Sammy shuddered at the thought. “If I’m lucky, maybe they’ll just think I’m a kitten or something.”

Charlie couldn’t help but start laughing at the image of Sammy being carted around by the scruff of his neck like a kitten.

“I’m glad you think this is funny,” Sammy said, giving Charlie a dry look.

“It is kinda funny,” Charlie said. “Shadow treating you like a kitten, I mean. She’d lick you, curl up around you.”

“Like she does for you?”

“Yeah! Except you don’t have all over fur. Just fur on your head.”

Internally, Sammy breathed a sigh of relief. He’d been a bit worried about how his kid would react to him being six inches tall. He should have known they’d take it in stride.

The two of them lapsed into silence, with Sammy going back to trying to compose while Charlie took out a book. However, they couldn’t really focus on reading since they kept glancing over at their struggling father.

“Do you want me to help?” They asked, putting down their book.

“I-I’m fine,” Sammy tried to insist.

“Really?” Charlie raised an eyebrow. “You can’t even hold the pen, Dad.”

Sammy stiffened a bit but relinquished the pen to Charlie. He sat on their shoulder while they wrote down the notes for him. Charlie made a few mistakes with the notes since they were still learning which notes were which. It was better than Sammy trying to use the pen on his own, though.

When Susie came to check on Sammy after recording, she found him, Charlie, and a completed composition.

“Mom!” Charlie waved excitedly. “I helped Dad finish his composition!” They held up the composition, which had a lot of ink smudges all over it.

“I told them what notes to write down,” Sammy explained. “It was easier than trying to use the pen by myself.”

“I expect you had to convince him to let you help,” Susie chuckled, patting Charlie’s head.

Sammy went a bit red, which told Susie everything she needed to know.

“Let’s see if Joey’s made any progress in reversing this,” Susie suggested, holding a hand out. Sammy grumbled something, hopping off Charlie’s shoulder and into her hands.

“I’ll stay here!” Charlie said brightly, dragging out their book.

“We won’t be long, sweetheart.” Susie kissed Charlie’s head then left the room with Sammy.


	10. Chapter 10

This was a request from [@marie-lamb-b](https://tmblr.co/m93h9E3jdsCLBCAHrderWIA): **Sorry if I bother you again, but I can’t help it >m<!!! Thinking on angst potential with poor and sweet Charlie (I’m sorry, I crave angst ;³;). Is it possible a story about them having an argument with their parents, maybe after playing with the kittens and being left behind, claiming they don’t really understand how really it is to be them and all they have to go through with? (I know this can be a little out of character with how lovely they are but crisis happens) What are they (more likely Susie) willing to do to actually try and understand their sweet and sad child? Magic is involved? Sammy puts his pride aside in order to make his child feel as happy and comfortable and understood as possible? …sorry if I got carried away, I just love this precious child so much ;♡;**

This is gonna get pretty emotional.

———————————————————

Charlie’s legs were a bit of a sore spot for them. The doctors they’d been taken to had said it was something to do with the muscles in their legs atrophying or connective tissue or something. They didn’t really remember. It wasn’t that their legs **didn’t** work, it was just that they were incredibly weak and often gave out. Given that Charlie was 12 and wanted to be able to run and jump and play with the other kids, their mobility issues were something that constantly frustrated them. 

Not to mention, their last family hadn’t been…the best regarding these issues.

Charlie still got around pretty well despite these issues, and so Susie and Sammy hadn’t really had to deal with Charlie’s feelings on the matter. They didn’t even really know how Charlie felt. Eventually, though, they did have to.

It happened while they’d been playing with the cats. Soot and Pancake were almost fully grown now, but they still played like they were kittens. Shadow preferred to lounge and them play. On that day, she’d been sitting on Sammy’s lap while he supervised the playtime. Soot and Pancake streaked about with the little brown kitten that was Charlie stumbled behind. Every so often, their back legs would give out and they’d go tumbling to the ground. 

Whenever this happened, Soot and Pancake came running back to check on Charlie. Once they were sure they were okay, they’d go bounding off again with Charlie following behind. The more times this happened, though, the more frustrated Charlie seemed to get. They started making frustrated little mewing sounds, their ears flattened against their head. Then Soot and Pancake started climbing the cat tree, and there was no way Charlie was going to be able to do that. 

So, they turned back and clambered onto the couch to sulk. 

“You okay?” Sammy asked. 

Charlie looked upset. Really truly upset. He hadn’t seen them this upset before. Sure, there had been some tantrums and meltdowns an the like, but nothing like this. 

“No…” Charlie mumbled, curling up into a ball. 

“Do you want to talk about?” Sammy leaned toward them, careful not to disturb Shadow.

“You’re not gonna get it.”

“I’d like to try.”

“But you’re not gonna get it!” Charlie repeated, curling up tighter. “You can’t!”

“Why not?” Sammy couldn’t help but frown a little. He was getting a bit worried now.

Shadow got up, padding over to Charlie and beginning to lick their face.

“You don’t know what it’s like.” Charlie started to sniffle, burying their face in Shadow’s fur. Shadow allowed this.

“Don’t know what what’s like, dear?” Susie asked, appearing from the dining room.

“You can move around fine. You don’t know what it’s like to feel like this. I can’t do anything.” Although neither could see Charlie’s face, both Susie and Sammy could tell they were starting to cry.

“That’s not true,” Susie said, kneeling beside her child. “You can do lots of things. And if it really bothers you that much, the doctor did say that physical therapy might help you.”

“That’s not the point!” Charlie yelled. 

Both Susie and Sammy physically jerked back. They hadn’t heard Charlie yell like this before. 

“I’m broken! I’m a burden!” Charlie screamed, startling the cats away. “You’re just gonna get rid of me too! Just like my last family!” 

Before Susie or Sammy could say anything, they’d turned into their kitten form and streaked away. Susie and Sammy exchanged a worried glance. They’d both known Charlie had some issues regarding their limited mobility. Neither had known they felt this strongly, though.

Susie sighed heavily, sitting down beside Sammy on the couch. Sammy took her hand, squeezing it an attempt to comfort her. And an attempt to comfort himself too. He had to admit, he was scared. This was big. Charlie needed their support with this. But Sammy wasn’t sure how to give that to them. Charlie was right. Neither he nor Susie knew how their child was feeling. 

“What do you think we should do?” Susie asked quietly. 

“We need to let them know we’re here for them,” Sammy replied. “I just…I don’t know how to do that.”

“Why don’t we give them some time and then we can go talk to them?” Susie suggested. 

“But what do we say?” Sammy asked, running his free hand through his hair. “I don’t want to stick my foot in my mouth about this.”

He didn’t want to make Charlie hate him. He wanted to do right by them. He wanted to be a good father. He’d been working so hard to be better for them. 

“Just tell them the truth.” Susie smiled gently. “Be honest with them.”

“Me being honest doesn’t usually end well,” Sammy grimaced.

“I think it will end well this time,” Susie assured him.

“But what if it doesn’t?” Sammy got up, beginning to pace. “What if I say something wrong and they start hating me?”

“Sammy.” Susie stood up as well, putting her hands on Sammy’s shoulders. “It’s going to be fine. Just stay calm and think about what you’re going to say before you say it. It _will_ be fine.”

“I…Alright.” Sammy nodded slowly. “Okay.”

And so, after about an hour, Susie and Sammy went to Charlie’s room. They were in their bed, wrapped up in a nest of blankets and quilts. The cats had formed a little circle around them.

“Charlie? Sweetie? Can we come in?” Susie asked, knocking gently on the door. 

“…Yeah…” Charlie’s muffled voice came from under the nest. 

Susie looked over at Sammy, who took a deep breath. 

“I’m sorry,” Sammy said, sitting down on Charlie’s bed. “About earlier.”

“We both are,” Susie added.

“You’re right,” Sammy continued. “We **don’t** know what it’s like. We **don’t** know what you’re going through. But we want to help you.”

“We’re not going to abandon you when things get hard, honey. ” Susie sat down on the other side of Charlie. “I can’t promise we won’t make mistakes, but we’ll do our best to be as helpful as we can.”

There was a moment of silence, then Charlie’s head popped out from under the mass of blankets. They were still sniffling a bit, the tear tracks on their cheeks not quite dry yet.

“You promise?” Their voice was small.

“We promise.” Sammy and Susie said together.

“Okay.” Charlie sniffed again, wiping their nose on the sleeve of their sweater. 

“Why don’t you tell us how you’re feeling?” Susie said, brushing some hair out of Charlie’s face. “Like you said, we don’t know how you’re feeling.”

Charlie nodded, taking a deep breath. Then they began to explain. Susie and Sammy listened as they did. They were going to do the best they could with this. Charlie deserved their support.


	11. Buddy The Babysitter

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Buddy does some babysitting

**Anonymous asked: Are you still taking fanfic request? I have one request and it involves Buddy and Dot babysitting Charlie Lawrence.**

Oh heck yeah! >:D

* * *

Buddy had been convinced since the first day he’d started at the studio that Sammy Lawrence hated him. This was mostly because Sammy’s default state was grumpy and he had a tendency to intimidate younger employees. Especially Buddy. Which was why he’d been so surprised when Sammy had asked him to watch his kid.

He’d seen Charlie Lawrence around, of course. Susie and Sammy had adopted them almost a year ago and it was rather common to see them zooming through the hallways in their wheelchair or hobbling along with their cane. But Buddy had never talked to them before since they tended to hang out in the Music Department.

He was almost certain he hadn’t given Sammy a reason to think he could be trusted with a child. Except, maybe that Buddy himself was a child. This was, in fact, exactly why Sammy thought it would be a good idea to leave Charlie with him. He was only actually five years older than them. Sammy figured it was a safe bet that Buddy would be able to handle Charlie.

He hadn’t communicated any of this to Buddy, so when Buddy saw Sammy walking toward his desk he assumed he was in trouble. He failed to notice Charlie trailing behind Sammy.

“Hey. Art Department,” Sammy said. This had become Sammy’s default nickname for Buddy, which was actually a bit of a sign of endearment. Only people Sammy liked got nicknames.

“Yes, Mr. Lawrence?” Buddy tried to keep his voice from shaking.

“Susie has to record a song and I have to conduct the band, so could you watch Charlie for an hour or two?” Sammy asked. Charlie waved from behind him. It had been raining outside, so they were wearing their frog raincoat.

“You want…Me? To watch them?” Buddy asked slowly, pointing to himself.

“Yeah.” Sammy nodded. “If you can’t that’s fine. I’ll find someone else.”

“No, uh, it’s fine,” Buddy said, looking over at Ms. Lambert. He didn’t want to agree if she had work she needed him to do.

“It’s fine,” she confirmed. Charlie had proved to be quiet and respectful while in the animation department before.

“Alright, I’ll do it.” Buddy smiled nervously.

“Great. Thanks.” Sammy patted him on the shoulder before walking away, leaving Buddy alone with Charlie.

Charlie had pulled up a chair beside Buddy’s desk, sitting down and peering curiously at his desk.

“What are you drawing?” They asked.

“Some frames for the new episode,” Buddy explained.

“Oh!” Charlie lit up. “The one with the tango number!”

“Yeah, exactly.” Buddy couldn’t help but smile as well.

“Dad’s been working really hard on that song,” Charlie said, bouncing in their chair. “And Mom’s been working on learning how to roll her r’s so she can sing the song better.”

“Oh really?”

“Yeah! I can’t really do it ‘cause I’ve got this tongue thing, but Dad can do it really well! He’s been teaching Mom and…”

Charlie chattered on for a bit, with Buddy listening quietly. It was nice to listen to Charlie talk. They had a lot of enthusiasm, both for the work of their parents and for the work that Buddy and the Art Department did.

After an hour, Dot appeared, having gotten word that Buddy was on babysitting duty.

“Hi, Miss Dot!” Charlie waved excitedly upon seeing her. Dot had also been asked to babysit once or twice, immediately winning Charlie over with her stories.

“Hello.” Dot waved back. “You having fun?”

“Yeah!” Charlie nodded fervently. “Buddy’s a really good listener and he draws well!”

“I mean, I’ve still got a lot to learn,” Buddy said, feeling his cheeks beginning to heat up.

“They’re giving you a compliment, take it.” Dot slapped his shoulder.

“Thanks,” Buddy mumbled.

“You’re welcome!” Charlie replied brightly.

The rest of the time until Sammy returned was spent by Buddy drawing and Dot explaining the story behind the frames. Charlie didn’t really know the bigger picture behind the tango episode and was delighted to learn more. Charlie even began making up their own stories about the adventures Bendy and his friends could go on. Buddy humored them and drew some of the scenes.

Sammy grinned to himself when he approached to the sound of Charlie’s eager chatter.

“Sounds like you all had fun,” he said.

“Sure did.” Dot replied with a grin of her own.

“It was a lot of fun,” Buddy agreed. It was strange to see Sammy smiling so tenderly, but he wasn’t about to look a gift horse in the mouth.

“Dad! Dad!” Charlie bounced up and down in their chair. “Dot and Buddy helped me make up a bunch of Bendy stories!”

“Oh really?” Sammy raised an eyebrow. “Your mom’s waiting in the breakroom. Why don’t we get you some food and you can tell us there?”

“Okay!”

Sammy helped Charlie up and the two of them headed off to meet up with Susie.

“We made a pretty good team there,” Dot said, gently nudging Buddy in the ribs.

Buddy moved away to avoid getting elbowed again, but nodded. “Yeah, I guess we did.”


	12. Shapeshifter Sammy

After [this](https://samuzstuff.tumblr.com/post/614072083805306880/shenanigans-central-samuzstuff) post by [@samuzstuff](https://tmblr.co/mtkfmrNoN7eTwQYynw15eWA) and [@shenanigans-central](https://tmblr.co/mOczFe7NILaHlLUxwY2qo0g), [@liliflower137](https://tmblr.co/m6IUUxKDNGCvV8dmwLG96Vg) suggested that Sammy becomes a shapeshifter and Charlie helps him get used to it. 

* * *

Sammy was a sheep. No one knew how or why this had happened, least of all Sammy.

All anyone knew was that a pipe had burst and now Sammy was a sheep. A cartoon sheep, but a sheep all the same. Susie was trying not to laugh, Wally was on the floor laughing, and Bendy and Joey were frantically trying to find a way to fix this. Henry just sipped at his coffee with a dead look in his eyes.

“I’m sure it’s going to be fine,” Susie said, trying to calm Sammy down. 

“I’m a sheep!” Sammy sputtered. “How is this supposed to be fixed?!” He was still able to speak, probably due to toon logic. 

“We’ll figure something out!” Joey assured him. “I’m sure it’s nothing out of the ordinary.”

“I’M A SHEEP, JOEY!”

“Yeah, but you’re a **toon** sheep,” Bendy pointed out. “So it’s still kinda like the other stuff you’ve gotten turned into.”

“He has a point,” Susie agreed.

“I…I guess,” Sammy conceded.

“So it’ll be alright.” Susie cooed. It took everything she had not to just bury her face in his wool. It was so soft, like a cloud.

Wally was still howling with laughter on the floor. Bendy rolled his eyes, dragging Wally to his feet and taking him away. Joey left as well to begin working on getting Sammy back to normal.

It was at that point that Charlie walked in. Everyone in the vicinity froze, unsure how they would react. Charlie had seen a lot of weird stuff, and while they handled it well, this was definitely a new one.

Upon seeing that Sammy was now a sheep, Charlie’s whole face lit up. 

“Dad! You didn’t tell me you were a shapeshifter too!” They yelled, throwing themselves onto Sammy in a big hug.

“I’m, uh, I’m not,” Sammy said.

“You’re…not?” Charlie pulled away, frowning. “But…You’re suddenly an animal now.”

“A pipe burst,” Susie explained. “And…well…” She gestured to Sammy. “That happened.”

“Huh.” Charlie’s frown deepened. They got off Sammy, leaning on their cane. They looked distinctly disappointed. “I just thought….” They kicked at the floor, their frown deepening.

“I’m sorry, angel,” Susie said, enfolding Charlie in a hug. 

Charlie turned a bit, burying their face in Susie’s chest. They’d gotten so excited, thinking they weren’t alone anymore. That they finally had a shapeshifter parent who’d understand them.

Sammy couldn’t help but feel guilty. He hadn’t done anything wrong, but he always felt awful when he somehow disappointed his child.

“I may not be a shapeshifter, but I’m still open to hearing how a shapeshifter would turn back,” he said. “I don’t have may other options.”

Charlie turned to look at Sammy. They still looked disappointed, but the promise of providing advice had their interest.

“Well,” they said, removing themselves from Susie. “When I have to turn back, I usually just focus on thinking about my human form.” They begin to stand up a bit straighter as they speak. They sound more confident than they usually do. “You gotta focus on imagining yourself human.”

“It’s worth a try,” Sammy sighed. He closed his eyes, focusing on picturing himself human once more. He didn’t really expect it to work, but it was worth a try.

When he opened his eyes, though, he found both Susie and Charlie staring at him in wonder. Charlie looked absolutely delighted.

“What? What’s that look?” Sammy asked. 

“Look at yourself,” Susie whispered.

Sammy frowned, then looked down at himself. Somehow…he was human again. His eyes widened. How had that happened?

“I knew it!” Charlie yelled, throwing themselves onto Sammy and knocking him over. “I knew you were a shapeshifter, Dad!”

“I…I guess I am,” Sammy laughed weakly, his mind racing. 

Susie giggled behind her hand. This was certainly going to be interesting.

.

Getting used to be able to shift between animal and human forms was a bit of a process. Sammy had a tendency to get stuck in his own head, which more than once led to him being stuck between forms. He made Susie promise not to take pictures, although she did secretly snap a few. 

“It’s okay, Dad,” Charlie assured him. “That happened to me a lot when I was little. You’ll get the hang of it.”

And so Sammy kept trying. He kept practicing, whether or not Charlie was there. A lot of times he ended up tiring himself out, falling asleep wherever he was in whatever form he happened to be in. If Charlie found him like this, they’d often turn into a kitten and curl up on his back.

It wasn’t an uncommon sight for Susie to come home and find a sheep asleep in the living room with a kitten curled up on its back. It was an absolutely adorable scene, which Susie of course took pictures of.

Sammy’s coworkers, meanwhile, were fascinated by this new development. Joey especially had so many questions he wanted to ask. Sammy was able to answer virtually none of them, so Joey turned to Charlie for answers. Charlie had more information, but they were still young so they didn’t know everything. 

It was a learning experience for all of them.

While Sammy had initially been upset about getting turned into a sheep, he actually didn’t mind it anymore. It had certainly helped him to get closer to his child. He couldn’t be mad about that.

**Author's Note:**

> Cross-posted from my Hell's Studio Drabbles since most of the stories take place in that universe  
> Check out my Tumblr @queenofcats17 for art of them


End file.
